Thursday, November 3, 2011

Does This Bomb Go Off at Your House, Too?

We had an oddly busy weekend. Parts of it I can't even remember! We zoomed through Friday, Saturday, and even Sunday, which means that come Monday morning, we were scrambling a bit. After I took the big four girls to school, this is the table that awaited me at home. And believe me, this was only the tip of the messy iceberg in the kitchen. I am looking at that table photo and thinking, That's a lotta life right there. The kitchen table wasn't clean and clear when we sat down to breakfast that morning. Add food, yesterday's crafts, breakfast Bible reading, last minute rulers-of-England review, and mama checking someone's math one last time...yep, the bomb definitely went off. And it does quite frequently. Well, daily, to be truthful.

I didn't notice what was front and center until after I took the photo, and then I was glad for all that it means, especially there in the middle of the dump that is our post-breakfast condition...

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

God is truly, deeply educating me on what grace really is - grace that leads to salvation and the continued grace that carries a Christ-follower through every day, every hour.

Here you can see more of the detonated-kitchen-bomb damage. I'd like to point out the giant bowl of mud there in the photo above. Yes sir, a big ole bowl of mud. I'll explain that later.

This is the island from the other direction, with baby books, milk sitting out, CA's handwriting worksheets, a cross made by one of the girls over the weekend, and the remnants of hurriedly-prepared school lunches. I really don't want to forget some of these realities...the messes and the chaos...so I do take pictures of it all sometimes. These are signs of life and love.

While overwhelming at first, it felt good to tackle the kitchen little by little, restoring order, making it so I could breathe again in there. I always tell the kids that when everything is put back in its place, for however short a time that may last, I can just breathe a little better. Contented sigh.

And here are a few photos from the Reformation Day party we enjoyed with friends on Sunday. Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany on October 31, 1517, which is considered to have set the Protestant Reformation in motion. We'd never done anything like this, but it was fun! It's a blessing that we've been studying the Renaissance, Luther, and the Reformation lately. The girls really understood what the Reformation was all about. They acted in a little play. The four big ones all played peasants.

They did a great job. We had fun getting dressed up for the night. The big girls manned our "Pottery Shop" booth (EG, reading over my shoulder, says that it should say that the girls womaned our pottery shop). Other families had booths too, including an Herb Shop, an archery practice booth, and one where they could learn a bit about illuminated manuscripts. There were other fun booths as well.

MK was really into her peasant character. See that dirty face? Remember the bowl of mud? Yes, we smeared all of them here and there with mud from the back yard. I hope MK has more opportunities to act in the future - she unfolds in a special way when given the chance to dress up and play a part. She looks so pretty here, doesn't she?

CA played a waitress in the little play that night. I got her dress at the thrift store and BB made her hat. She was waiting in line to make an herb sachet.

I just really liked this photo of AH. Beautiful. She and LC were running the Pottery Shop booth. All the kids had fun playing with clay.

I am so thankful for the kind friends God has given us. It was a blessing to fellowship and live out some history with them at the Reformation Party!
*
As I sat here this morning, talking to the Lord and reading the Word and (truly) fighting sleepiness, I had a thought...

While I do always want to grow in my commitment to disciplined prayer - and believe me, I need to...I am so thankful for this: When it comes to prayer, I have all day! I am really comforted to look out into what is often a long, challenging day and remember that He is with me, and I can choose to live in His presence, and I can and will be talking to Him all day! I have all day to be with Him! All day to turn to Him in praise, prayer, worship....not that I always do, but I am learning to think this way and it is good indeed. I am constantly asking for His help!

I hope you have a good Thursday, comforted by His presence and the freedom and privilege to go to Him confidently at all times today.

The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace. Psalm 29:11

4 comments:

I wish I could blame a bomb, or my kids, mostly it is me causing this kind of chaos. I don't even understand how it happens, it just appears, scrambled all over the place, settling in for the long haul. Interestingly, if you leave everything in place (except for that which is a potential biohazard) the mess never seems to get exponentially worse with time, it is like some phenomenon of the universe: everything has its place within the chaos.....aaaaah. One can also view it as an opportunity to breathe deeply on a moment to moment level (to keep me from screaming)You are one among many, rejoice that you are not alone.

Your waitress and peasants are so cute! I just love opportunities for costumes.

Yes, the bomb goes off, but I try pretty hard to prevent it because I just have a hard time handling all that insanity and chaos and being a kind person at the same time. But my dear, I only have 2 children :) so I'm sure it's more manageable at this house.

Merlin, I do rejoice that I'm not alone...always love hearing from you! :-)

Margo - I *think* we are possibly easing into a time of better management of messy chaos. We've been in super-survival mode for a LONG time and God's helping us step back and see what changes we can make, how we can take on some better habits to (generally) avoid the level of crazy that we've lived with for so long!

Tiny Bio

I'm Beth. Today I'm 41. Jesus loves me, this I know. I love running and coffee and flowers and quiet space. BB is my best friend & husband these 18 years. We're still in awe over how many kids we have - 8 unique, full of life people we call ours. We're all still trying to figure out large family life together. It's messy. Really messy. And it's beautiful and rich, draining and maddening, and I'm in this space to think out loud about it all.

AH - 18EG - 17MK - 15LC - 13CA - 10CJ - 7

BH - 5

MES - 3

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14